Qantas Joeys named for AFC U16 Championship

Qantas Joeys Head Coach Martyn Crook has selected a 23 player squad to compete at the upcoming AFC U16 Championships which will be held in Uzbekistan from 4-18 October 2008.

Qantas Joeys Head Coach Martyn Crook has selected a 23 player squad to compete at the upcoming AFC U16 Championships which will be held in Uzbekistan from 4-18 October 2008.

“We have been working hard for the past 18 months to prepare for this tournament and our performances at the ASEAN Cup and recent European tour have been promising,- said Crook.

“This tournament is extremely important for us as it serves as the qualifier for FIFA U17 World Cup.

“We have very good information on our opposition and a quality group of players.

“On this basis, I am confident that we can do the job in Tashkent,” concluded Crook.

The Qantas Joeys qualified for the tournament last year. Earlier this year, the Qantas Joeys won the ASEAN Football Federation Under 16 Youth Championships in a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Bahrain.

The Qantas Joeys are drawn in Group C of the Championships alongside China PR, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.

They play their play their first match of the tournament against Saudi Arabia on Sunday 5 October (kick-off 01.00am AEDT Monday 6 October), and then face China PR on Tuesday 7 October (kick-ff 9:00pm AEDT) before their final group match against Turkmenistan on Thursday 9 October (kick-off 10.00pm AEDT).

The top two teams from each group then advance to the quarter finals on Sunday 12 October, with the winners progressing to the semi-finals which will be held on Wednesday 15 October. The final will be played on Saturday 18 October.

The venue for the Qantas Joeys first two matches will be the Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent which is the same venue that recently saw the Socceroos defeat Uzbekistan 0-1 in their 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifier match.

The winner, runners-up, third-placed and fourth placed team in the competition will qualify for the FIFA U17 World Cup 2009 which will be held Nigeria in October.

The Qantas Joeys will depart Australia on Wednesday and will play a friendly match against host nation Uzbekistan on 28 September as part of their preparations for the AFC U16 Youth Championships.

QANTAS JOEYS SQUAD

AFC U16 CHAMPIONSHIPS - UZBEKISTAN 2008 4-18 October 2008

Eli Babalj (WA), Chris Bush (ACTAS), Julius Davies (WA), Stephen Domenici (ACTAS), Cameron Edwards (WA), Petar Franjic (VIS), Nathan Farrell (SASI), Danai Gapare (ACTAS), Brendan Hamill (NSWIS), Kamal Ibrahim (VIS), Ben Kantarovski (Newcastle Jets), Robert Kolac (NSWIS), Aaron Lennox (NSWIS), Jared Lum (NSWIS), Chahine Noujaim (SASI), Mark Perrone (SASI), Dimitrios Petratos (NSWIS), Trent Sainsbury (WA), Nikola Stanojevic (NSWIS), Nicholas Tubbs (QAS), Marc Warren (NSWIS), Bailey Wright (VIS) and Teddy Yabio (VIS).